THE STUDY of the University’s Research Center for Culture, Education, and Social Issues (RCCESI) named Thomasian Initiative for Good Election Results (TIGER) 2016 found that the youth possess political maturity and awareness on national and global issues.
“This appears to be reflecting a sense of political maturity among a group of university students, the Thomasian Online Respondents (TOR), whose political voices in the 2016 elections mixed up a new breed of Filipino generation who are well aware of the persisting interspersing national and global issues such as graft and corruption, healthcare, and disaster management,” said RCCESI Director Clarence Batan in a forum held Monday.
Batan said this quality of mind will enable them to use their awareness on social issues to be informed and to shape their choices in the upcoming national elections.
The idea of student apathy became a common notion because of the generational gap, Batan said. “Mayroon kasing generational claim. Akala ng mga mas matatanda na dahil mas matatanda sila, may mas alam sila sa mundo kaysa sa mga bata.”
The RCCESI director said the generational claim should be dismissed because the TOR revealed not only their political maturity but also their right to have their own voice.
The findings also showed that the respondents’ top choices are based on the platform, track record, and personality of candidates.
Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Leni Robredo surfaced as respondents’ top choice for president and vice president.
Richard Gordon, Leila De Lima, Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Ralph Recto, Sergio Osmeña III, Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson, Sherwin Gatchalian, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Teofisto Guingona III, and Joel Villanueva were the Thomasian respondents’ top 12 senators.
The study conducted four online surveys, labelled “Tiger 1,” “Tiger 2,” “Tiger Aktiboto,” and “Tiger Aktiboto 2.” Tiger 1 and 2 tested how well the respondents know about current events while Aktiboto 1 and 2 were mock elections Tiger 1 (1,265 respondents) and Tiger 2 (678 respondents) were conducted from Feb. 27 to Mar 5 and March 29 to April 8, respectively. Tiger Aktiboto 1 (2, 354 respondents) was conducted from April 4 to 9, and Tiger Aktiboto 2 (7, 159 respondents) from April 20 to 23.
The forum titled “Thomasian Speaks: A Colloquim on the Thomasian Vote” was spearheaded by the RCCESI in partnership with AKTIBOTO. F – Krystal Gayle R. Digay
